Author: Editor

Red Bell Peppers or Sweet Peppers – According to some sources, red peppers contain three times more vitamin C than orange juice. Raw bell peppers are a safe and effective way to increase bioflavinoids in your diet. Strawberries and other berries are a great source of bioflavinoids. Claims of health

As well understood as the mechanisms of allergy response and other sensitivities are, medical science is still in the discovery phase as to why in some cases our immune systems become over-sensitive and decide to attack what would otherwise be innocuous proteins. Why, for example, are there more allergy sufferers

This theory espouses the fact that certain of our bodily systems are designed as barriers to keep the outside out. For example, digestion is designed to break down complex food molecules into their component nutrients that the body can put to use. Any malfunction of digestion, whether caused by illness,

Probably the most common allergies that appear at a very young age are those to cow’s milk and to peanuts. Everyone has heard of a baby whose mother is not nursing for one reason or another becoming very colicky, failing to gain weight or having other problems because its formula

The first order of business when you suspect you are sensitive to, allergic to or intolerant of a substance is to begin keeping a diary of your reactions and what you have been doing, eating and drinking for the 72 hours prior to the response. Of course, if the response

All allergies are caused by an immune response of the body toward a foreign substance. The mechanism for this response is actually quite fascinating, as it demonstrates how our bodies are self-repairing mechanisms under normal circumstances. An allergen is a protein that the body evaluates and judges to be foreign

This test, similar to ELISA, measures IgE antibodies that mediate most environmental allergies. Other Blood Tests Other lab testing methods, such as radioallergosorbent testing (RAST) or an immunoassay capture test (ImmunoCAP, UniCAP, or Pharmacia CAP), may be used to provide more information. Similar to the ELISA and EIA tests, these

Types of Allergies There are four main sources, or types of allergies. By far the most prevalent are food allergies, followed by environmental factors in the form of inhalants, contactants and injectants. We will discuss each in more detail below. For now, let us define each of them. Food allergies

Anyone can develop an allergy to any food at any time, and the reasons for that are more fully explained in the next section, Causes of Allergies. Briefly, though, it is not uncommon for a food that you have enjoyed for years to begin sensitizing you gradually until an immune

Along with avoiding the eight most common food allergens, be aware of the cross-reactions that can be triggered by foods that are of similar origins. For example, if you develop an allergy to latex, you could also be sensitive to fruits of similar types of trees, which might include bananas,